Does the sun shine in Tartarus?

7 - Percy hated that it worked

Warning: very very small and unimportant ToN spoiler that isn't important to the overall plot of the book-

"Not a word of last night, remember? Not even to Hestia." Percy hissed. He personally had nothing against the gentle goddess, but when it came to his weaknesses Percy was very serious and private. It was bad enough that Apollo knew of his nightmares.He didn't need another.

Apollo was currently on the other side of the cabin, freshly showered and slipping into one of Percy's camp shirts. It fit the sun god very well, and Percy felt his cheeks grow hot against his better judgement. "Yeah yeah, I get it. Not a word, yada yada yada." Responded Apollo, his voice light and teasing.

"Just... oh, shut up." Percy snapped, pulling a blue hoodie on and making sure Riptide was still in his pocket. His heart twanged. Annabeth would always tease him for doing that. "Seaweed Brain, Anaklusmos is literally made so that it always returns to your pocket. Of course it's still going to be there." She would say, before grabbing his hand and kissing it lightly. Percy's face fell, and he felt the world spin 'round as he leant against a wall to steady himself.

Apollo was by his side in a milisecond, a strong, warm hand on his shoulder. "You good there, Jackson?" When Percy didn't respond, instead squeezing his eyes shut, the sun god took his hand and gently squeezed it. Percy tried focusing on the rather nice feeling of Apollo's hand in his, using it as an anchor that was stopping him floating away into places he couldn't afford to visit so close to a new war. It worked. Percy hated that it worked.

"Yeah. Sorry." He muttered to Apollo. "I guess I'll see you in a couple days. How many?"

"Five." Responded the sun god, and Percy shuddered. In just five days, he'd be back in Tartarus. Back with the Arai and maybe Kelli and a whole bunch of awful creatures he'd destroyed before. And the worst part of it all was that this time, Bob would not be there. And neither would Damasen. Tell the sun and the stars hello for me. The last words of the friendly titan rang through Percy's mind and he flinched.

"Right then. See you in five days." He said to Apollo, clearly asking the god to get the hell out of his cabin. Apollo obliged, leaving Percy alone in cabin 3 for a mere 10 seconds before Will Solace came rushing in, Grover and Nico hot in his heels.

Will skidded to a stop, and looked around the cabin, almost frantically. "There was a flash of golden light- we thought you'd done something stupid."

"What did you do?" Nico asked, accusingly.

"Hey, give the guy a chance to explain." Butted in Grover, holding up a hand to stop the other two boys' frantic chatter.

Percy blinked. The whole thing had literally happened in a time span of 15 seconds. "I- uh- there's nothing to worry about? It was just Apollo..." he struggled to find the right word, making strange, chaotic hand gestures. He made a fist, and then rapidly opened and closed it to mimic a poof. "...poofing, I guess, back to Olympus."

"Wait a sec." Will made a time out sign. "Apollo was still here? In your cabin? Jackson. What the hell?" Grover also looked gobsmacked, while Nico just raised an eyebrow suggestively.

Percy's cheeks burned. "Shut up, Nico."

"I didn't say anything!"

He sighed. "Look, I- I dunno, it was late and I was tired so he stayed I guess." Percy purposefully left out the part where he actually asked Apollo to stay the night, fearing that would only fuel Nico's not-so-clean thoughts that the guy was surely having, judging from the way he kept raising his eyebrows. "He's going with me to Tartarus, you know. Sharing a room for one night really isn't that bad." Percy added, without thinking.

Will flinched, and then looked worriedly at Nico, who had stopped all suggestive games and paled considerably.

"Nico, I'm sorry-"

"You're going back there?! No! No, I won't let you! Not- not again!" Nico yelled, his voice filled with anger and fear. He ignored Will's attempts to soothe him and continued on, and Percy stood there and took it. He knew that Nico needed to rant, and it was his own stupid mistake for bringing this up. "The gods cant seriously make you do that, can they?! It's not fair! You've been once and it almost broke you. And you saw a watered down version! I've been there with no mist! It's awful! I can't- I won't let you down there. I'll speak to my father, so he won't give you access! There must be another way to stop Kronos rising."

"Nico- I-" Percy stuttered, but Nico was already storming away.

"Scusatemi."

Percy started after him, but Will held up a hand, stopping him. "Jackson. Don't. Let me." Will then walked out of the cabin, calling Nico's name in a soothing voice. Percy turned to Grover.

"Grover..." he tried, too tired to put any emotion into his voice.

The satyr just sighed. "Look, Perce. I don't want you to go through that again." He tapped his forehead. "Empathy link, remember? But I know the world is in your hands. Do what needs to be done. Just... please, stay alive."

Percy sighed. His empathy link with Grover was yet another example of how, no matter what he did, he would always hurt someone he loved. "I can try, bro."

"NO. Do or do not. There is no try." Grover responded, desperation in his voice.

"Did you just quote Star Wars?" Percy asked his friend, disbelievingly. "You've been spending too much time with Will."

Grover smiled weakly. "You know what I mean." Percy examined his best friend's face. He spied tears in Grover's eyes, and the goat's Adam's Apple was bobbing up and down, indicating that he was holding back tears. "I am hereby forbidding you from dying without me. Alright?"

Percy gulped, now struggling to hold back tears himself. "Alright." It was at this stage that the bell for breakfast rang, and Grover started towards the door. He gestured for Percy to follow, and he did.

Breakfast came and went in a blur. The only thing abnormal that Percy picked up on (besides the whispers and worried voices from the older campers about the new war) was that Nico and Will were nowhere to be seen. When he asked Grover, however, Percy was assured that the pair were not in any danger. Will was most likely with Nico, trying to help him out of his dark mood.

Occasionally, the lights in the Hades cabin went out, and they were quickly turned back on again by a tall figure in the window that Percy assumed was Will. Grover would notice Percy staring worriedly, and would try to redirect his attention to the large pile of blue pancakes on Percy's plate. Percy didn't notice them. He barely ate these days.

When the whole breakfast ordeal was over, he was quick to lock himself in the Poseidon cabin. Percy had had this awful nightmare the previous night, reducing his quality of sleep drastically. It was strange, though, the way he came out of it. It was almost as if someone was actually with him, as if someone was actually saying they loved him. Percy could've snorted at that. He was unlovable by this point, too tired and broken to be of any use as a boyfriend.

The day passed by in a blur, Percy staying in the corner of his cabin, allowing himself to get lost in his thoughts. People probably knocked on the door, the two Athena kids to talk about strategy, Chiron and Rachel to make sure he hadn't done anything stupid, Grover... but Percy ignored them all. He was so. Gods dam. Tired.

A part of him wanted to be back in Apollo's company. Percy hated that part of him. For one, he was straight. As straight as a... straight thing. A ruler. A line. He didn't like boys that way. Secondly, he was probably going to die within the next week or so, so what was the point? Thirdly, as if the last two weren't enough, Apollo was a god. Gods always left the mortals in the end. It was the law.

So there was really no point in Percy feeling anything towards Apollo.

But feelings didn't listen to logic.

(1424 words)